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Basic Qualifying Rules Have investment income below $3,650 in the tax year you claim the credit. Have a valid Social Security number. Claim a certain filing status. Be a U.S. citizen or a resident alien all year.

Basically, due diligence requires you, as a paid preparer, to: Evaluate the information received from the client. Apply a consistency and reasonableness standard to the information. Make additional reasonable inquiries when the information appears to be incorrect, inconsistent, or incomplete.

must meet four due diligence requirements. The tax benefits are the earned income tax credit (EITC), the child tax credit (CTC), the additional child tax credit (ACTC), the credit for other dependents (ODC), the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC), and head of household (HOH) filing status.

Paid tax return preparers are required to exercise due diligence when preparing a return that claims the EITC. Regs. Sec. 1.6695-2(b) spells out the due-diligence requirements preparers must meet, and those who do not meet the requirements can be subject to penalties and other sanctions.

To qualify for the Earned Income Credit, either you or your spouse (if you are married) must be at least 25 years old and no greater than 65 years old at the end of the year. This rule only applies to people without any children. Your response is not used if you have 1 or more qualified children.

For the year you are filing, earned income includes all income from employment, but only if it is includable in gross income. Examples of earned income are: wages; salaries; tips; and other taxable employee compensation. Earned income also includes net earnings from self-employment.

The most common CTC/ACTC errors are: claiming the CTC/ACTC for a child who is over 16 years old at the end of the tax year, claiming the CTC/ACTC for a child who doesn't meet the dependent qualifying child requirements, and. claiming the CTC/ACTC for a child who was not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or a U.S. resident.